Extra, Extra!
by MissyEliart
Summary: A slipup in a battle almost costs Raven her reputation. How is she going to deal with it? Oneshot. BBRae


First of all, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long, but I had to finish a science fair project, and all in all, it was a crazy week. I'll get the next chapter of my other story up as soon as possible for all of those itching to read it. Any way, enjoy this oneshot!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans. Crap. I also don't own People magazine. Double crap.

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Extra, Extra!

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_**Crash!**_

The deafening sound of a previously-hurled dumpster exploding just off to Ravens left rang through her ears. Trash and scraps of paper fluttered through the air as the blue mass of metal proceeded to roll slowly down the sloping pavement, creaking and heaving as it went.

The empath took off in the in the direction of her offender, using her powers to bring the destroyed trash receptacle with her.

The Titans were on yet another call- a bank robbery, and the third one that week, to be exact.

_Why do we even bother to put these guys in jail anymore, _the empath thought. _They're only going to break out. It's like scolding a child when you know they won't listen to you._

She hurled the deadly mass from her possession into the face of the offending villain, which happened to be Cinderblock that day. The metal heap merely deflected off the great stone monsters head, falling uselessly to the ground.

The creature was unharmed, much to the dark girl's dismay. As she swept her violet gaze across the streets below her looking for something else with which to maim the monster, several energy discs exploded in the creature's face, lights dancing blindingly in its sunken, beady eyes causing it to stagger backwards a few steps; Robin's doing, no doubt. The empaths eyes came to rest on Beast Boy, who was currently fighting against a terrified mass of people, straining to get them out of harms way.

"Beast Boy!" she called to the changeling, who apparently hadn't heard her over the whooping of various car alarms and screams of frantic people. Cinderblock, having recovered from Robin's attack, was now lumbering toward the unsuspecting elf, who was desperately trying to calm the crowd, both of which were now in danger.

She cupped her hands over her mouth to amplify her voice.

"_Beast Boy!"_ But to no avail.

_Beast Boy, you idiot, get out of the way! _

Just then, she became aware of someone calling her name. She whipped around only for Starfire who was but ten feet from her to fill her vision, and was currently launching a fury of star bolts at their adversary.

The Tamarainian halted her attack to dodge a flying street light.

"Raven!" she repeated as soon as she had regained her composure. "You must assist Beast Boy! The Cinderblock is headed straight for him!" As she said this, she resumed flinging star bolts into the creatures face, attempting to stop him from going any further.

"Yeah, I noticed," Raven replied sarcastically, flying off in the direction of the changeling.

As the empath reached the air over Beast Boy, she aimed her body toward the ground and dove straight toward the pavement and the green elf, the rushing wind stinging her face, her cloak plastered against her thin frame.

The black ribbon beneath her continued to increase in size as she sped through the air. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the bystanders pointing in her general direction, gasping and gesturing to those surrounding them.

When she was within earshot of the green titan, she called to him.

"Beast Boy, look out!"

The startled elf whipped around to see the dark girl charging straight for him, his emerald eyes wide and mouth agape. Just before the great stone monster crushed Beast Boy underfoot, the empath plowed into him and knocked him aside, allowing Cinderblock's foot to come thundering into the pavement which left a significant pothole in its wake.

The two Titans tumbled into the crowd, which parted to allow them passage.

Their entangled bodies skidded to a halt, allowing them to catch their breath for a second. But upon feeling the burning stares of hundreds of people boring into their skulls, they hurriedly untwisted their arms and legs and jumped to their feet.

"Geeze, Raven," the green Titan said to his teammate, brushing off the dirt and rubble that clung to his uniform. "You scared the crap out of me!"

"You're welcome." She replied sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I do kind of owe you."

Without thinking, Beast Boy threw his black clad arms around the startled girl.

"Thanks!" he chirped.

Shocked, the empath didn't realize what was going on for a split second, until a bright flash snapped her out of her stupor.

"Beast Boy, get off!" she said distractedly, shrugging him off. She gazed around the crowd, searching for the source of the light. But the only thing she found was numerous bystanders staring back at her. Not giving it a second thought, she dismissed it as just a figment of her imagination, and flew off to rejoin her friends.

* * *

A week or so after the incident, Cinderblock was safely behind bars, for the moment at least, and the Titans were relaxing in the main room of the tower. It was late in the morning, and Cyborg was still cleaning up from breakfast. Robin was trying his hand in video games with Beast Boy egging him on, and Raven was reading on the couch next to them. Starfire had been down for breakfast, but later decided to go out and run a few errands, and still had not returned.

Cyborg finished washing the dishes and decided to join his overly enthusiastic teammates on the couch, who had not yet noticed that their hybrid friend had joined their LAN party.

_Boys…_the empath thought without looking up from the tome she had in her hands.

Just then, the doors to the main room slid open, and the Tamarainian rushed in. She floated over to the couch.

"Hey, Star. What's up?" asked Robin, not taking his eyes off his game.

Without a word, she grabbed Raven by the wrist and pulled her upwards, causing her to drop her book.

"Starfire, what are you doing?" asked the bewildered sorceress.

"Star, what's wrong?" asked Cyborg. They had all grown used to the alien's strange behavior, but still felt inclined to ask.

"Raven, may I speak with you for a moment?" she inquired without looking at her other teammates.

"Uhh…" The empath began to answer, but before she could get a word out, Starfire dragged her out of the room and into the hallway, the doors sliding back into place behind them.

"Starfire, what going on?" Raven demanded.

The alien didn't hesitate to pull a tabloid from one of the plastic shopping bags she had dropped on the floor previously.

"Raven, I am not sure what to make of this…" She thumbed through the pages before explaining any further.

"What are you talking about?" Raven wore a look of complete confusion across her pale features, not knowing what to make of the situation.

"Please, read." She thrust the tabloid into the dark girl's hands.

And there, under the bold red title, "Hot New Romance Between Titans?" was a blurred and distant picture of her and Beast Boy hugging.

Her jaw dropped as she read the heading underneath the photo aloud.

"'Sure, everyone suspected a romance between Starfire and the Boy Wonder,'" she read softly to herself, "'but this is one pairing no one saw coming!'"

The empath was fuming, and almost didn't hear Starfire's next question.

"Could this magazine be speaking the truth, Raven?"

"Of course not!" she cried, violet glare still glued to the picture. "How dare they!"

She closed the magazine and crossed her arms, not daring to look at her friend.

A smile crept across Starfire's face. "Are you certain?"

Raven was blushing furiously, and yanked her hood up, hoping it would mask the deep pink on her pale cheeks.

She wanted to strangle Beast Boy, but more so the journalist of the magazine. She couldn't go out into public with this story in circulation. But the thing that ticked her off more than anything was the fact that she wasn't quite sure whether the story was false or not. She'd never had feelings for the changeling before, but in the recent months, she became unsure of exactly how she felt for him.

"Starfire," she asked slowly. "Could…you not tell the others about this?"

"I will not," replied the alien. "But the 'People' might."

She took the magazine from her friend's hand and held up the cover. And, once again, there were separate pictures of her and the green Titan underneath the headline, "A New Hookup?"

She sighed. How she wanted to sink through the floor and simply disappear.

Starfire turned and headed towards the door to the main room, but before she left, said one last thing to Raven.

"If you ever wish to talk about this most unfortunate situation, I am always available."

And with that, she left, leaving Raven with her thoughts.

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Later that night, Raven flopped onto her bed and thought about the events of the day. God, how she hated the magazine, the reporter, _Beast Boy._ She sighed heavily, deciding there was nothing she could do about it but deny the claims, and deal with it. The story would soon become yesterday's news anyway, right?

"Uhh…" She ran a hand over her tired face. The rest of the team had gone out for dinner, but she had declined the offer, afraid of being swamped by reporters and photographers. No doubt Beast Boy was the one having to deal with them, but at least they weren't together, promoting the whole ordeal.

She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling as if searching it for the answers to all her problems, when she heard the grotesque sound of knuckles at her door.

Perhaps if she stayed quiet, whoever it was would give up and go away. No such luck. They knocked again, and she cringed as Beast Boy's nasally voice wafted through the door, asking if he could come in.

Reluctantly, she got to her feet to answer the door. She opened it a crack, revealing Beast Boys wide, begging emerald eyes.

"Raven!" said the changeling, pushing past the startled empath into her room.

"Did you see this?" He whipped around to face the dark girl, thrusting the same issue of "People" into her face that Starfire had shown her earlier that day.

Using her index finger, she lowered the tabloid to peer over it at her startled friend.

"Yes, actually, I did," she said coldly.

"Then why didn't you tell me!" he spat out, jabbing a gloved finger at the front page. "This is so humiliating!"

"You think I'm not embarrassed, too?" she cried

"You weren't the one being asked by reporters all night if like me!" He crossed his arms over his chest and turned his eyes from her, the same way she had when speaking to Starfire about the issue earlier that day.

They were silent for a moment before one of them dared to speak.

"So…." the empath said cautiously. "Do you?"

The changeling turned to her, his eyes pleading.

"I…I don't know…" he said softly.

"Well, I think I do." She spoke barely above a whisper.

They each took a step forward, closing the gap between the two, and embraced each other in a hug. Raven buried her face in the crook of his neck as he whispered into her ear, "I do, too."

She raised her head and looked straight into his brilliant eyes, his hand caressing her face.

They leaned into each other and their lips met, each immediately enveloped in unparalleled bliss. As they kissed, only one thought found its way into their heads:

_Thank God for tabloids._

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Tada! So, this was my first shot at fluff, so please, _please_ tell me how I did. I love recieving reviews, and it only takes a minute. You do the math.

-Missy E.


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